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Second Draft Complete

Second Draft Complete

As of Sunday at four in the afternoon, I finished writing the second draft of First Draft B. These are the specs…

The goal was to write 85,000 words, thus cutting out what I suspected was 10k words of fluff from First Draft B. It came out to 85 182, and that wasn’t planned. Very pleased.

I wanted to complete this draft by December 19, 2008. I finished five days ahead of schedule, even though I’m in graduate school.

I wanted a tighter, cleaner draft. I’m feeling pretty good about this.

I need to put this draft away for a couple of months and work on a new project. Thank goodness I’m taking an advanced fiction writing course next semester.

I’m looking for beta readers who are willing to comment on the entire work. I use Microsoft Word 2007, so I can read the commenting feature from 2003/2007. Let me know if you’re interested, and we’ll work out the details. If you don’t read historical fiction or historical romance, please don’t contact me. You won’t know the genre cliches to help me make sure I don’t commit them.

I'd be happy to read your work. But I have to warn you, I just had a baby two weeks ago and so reading has been slow lately. Only late at night when I am feeding him so it may take me awhile. Let me know what you want to do!

Belinda ~
I’d be happy to read your work. But I have to warn you, I just had a baby two weeks ago and so reading has been slow lately. Only late at night when I am feeding him so it may take me awhile. Let me know what you want to do!

@Evangeline – I hear you. I wouldn't expect a quick turn around on this, by the way. Due to my taking an advanced fiction writing course next semester, I won't be working on this piece for three months. It should provide a lot of reflection time and might change my style a little, but I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.

@Word Nerd – Thanks! I have to finish formatting it so that it's readable (I wrote it in a different word processor) but I'd love for at least one reader to be outside the genre to help me combat cliches.

@Emily – Congratulations on the new addition to the family! I'd love to have you read it. Like I said to Evangeline, I won't expect it to come back until… oh, the first of May? So you'd have plenty of time to read it.

For the cover, I actually don't have rights to the painting (Getty), which is why I only ever show a small version. I'll have to commission an artist to make something very similar, though, because I love the image. I took the painting and then layered the translucent white block and text on top of it with Paint Shop Pro 9. Paint Shop Pro 9 is essentially a cheaper version of Adobe Photoshop.

If you're looking for similar and free software, check out Paint.NET, or GIMP.

@Evangeline – I hear you. I wouldn’t expect a quick turn around on this, by the way. Due to my taking an advanced fiction writing course next semester, I won’t be working on this piece for three months. It should provide a lot of reflection time and might change my style a little, but I’m actually kind of looking forward to it.

@Word Nerd – Thanks! I have to finish formatting it so that it’s readable (I wrote it in a different word processor) but I’d love for at least one reader to be outside the genre to help me combat cliches.

@Emily – Congratulations on the new addition to the family! I’d love to have you read it. Like I said to Evangeline, I won’t expect it to come back until… oh, the first of May? So you’d have plenty of time to read it.

For the cover, I actually don’t have rights to the painting (Getty), which is why I only ever show a small version. I’ll have to commission an artist to make something very similar, though, because I love the image. I took the painting and then layered the translucent white block and text on top of it with Paint Shop Pro 9. Paint Shop Pro 9 is essentially a cheaper version of Adobe Photoshop.

If you’re looking for similar and free software, check out Paint.NET, or GIMP.

@Laughingwolf – I started to read the entry but got confused pretty quickly. Is he saying you shouldn't rely on word counts? If that's the case, I suppose I should admit that I'm not relying on a specific word count. It's just that I knew the first draft was far too long, and that the second draft would most likely be shorter. 85k was an arbitrary number that sounded good…it's a complete coincidence that it worked out that way.

On the other hand, if he's arguing that one must be economical with one's words, then I completely agree. I know that I tend to overwrite, which is why I'm looking for beta readers to tell me when I'm waxing poetical.

@Laughingwolf – I started to read the entry but got confused pretty quickly. Is he saying you shouldn’t rely on word counts? If that’s the case, I suppose I should admit that I’m not relying on a specific word count. It’s just that I knew the first draft was far too long, and that the second draft would most likely be shorter. 85k was an arbitrary number that sounded good…it’s a complete coincidence that it worked out that way.

On the other hand, if he’s arguing that one must be economical with one’s words, then I completely agree. I know that I tend to overwrite, which is why I’m looking for beta readers to tell me when I’m waxing poetical.

@Eliza – Thanks! How exciting, that you’re on your last rewrite! I’m kind of jealous, I have to admit. At the same time, I’m glad I’m not there yet. I’d feel sad that the door was almost closed on that work.

@Eliza – Thanks! How exciting, that you're on your last rewrite! I'm kind of jealous, I have to admit. At the same time, I'm glad I'm not there yet. I'd feel sad that the door was almost closed on that work.